Replaces a plate or a registration sticker that has been lost, stolen or damaged. In Texas the plates are the seller’s to keep, which makes this the form that turns up when a set goes missing from the garage - or when a plate is stolen off a car and you need a legal one before you can sell or drive it.
Written against VTR-60 (Rev. 11/2017), issued under Texas Transportation Code 504.007.
If you are selling and taking your plates with you, this is the form for the set you cannot find. If you are selling and leaving the plates on the car, you have a different problem - Texas expects the plates to come off, and the transfer notification asks you in writing whether they did.
Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank VTR-60 from the txdmv.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our VTR-60 guide and keep it beside you while you fill theirs in.
This is the actual VTR-60, rendered from the PDF the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles publishes and completed end to end: letterhead, every field, and the blocks at the foot.
Amber — you write it
Grey — not yours to fill
Numbered — explained below
The real VTR-60, filled in to replace a stolen plate on the family car. Only the first of the three boxes is ticked, because only the plate went - the stickers are a separate line and a separate problem.
Field by field
Every line, in the order you meet it
1
You fill this in
Applicant information
Your name, county, address, email and phone.
Watch out: The county here is your county of residence - it is where the application goes.
2
You fill this in
What needs replacing
Tick all that apply: current plates, the plate registration sticker, the windshield registration sticker.
Watch out: Tick only what actually needs replacing. Each item carries its own fee.
3
You fill this in
Vehicle information
VIN, the current Texas plate number before replacement, year, make and body style.
Watch out: The plate number is the one being replaced, even if the plate itself is long gone - it will be on your registration receipt.
4
You fill this in
Date it
The date of the application.
Watch out: Take it in person if you can. The county issues replacements over the counter and posting it adds a fortnight for nothing.
At a glance
What goes where
On the form
What to put in it
Applicant information
Name, suffix, county, address, email and phone.
What needs replacing
Three tick boxes - current licence plates, the plate registration sticker, the windshield registration sticker - and you tick all that apply.
Vehicle information
VIN, the current Texas plate before replacement, year, make and body style.
Date
The date you sign it.
What gets this one rejected
•Posting cash. The form says it in as many words: do not mail cash, and the fees are not refundable.
•Sending it to Austin. This one goes to your local county tax assessor-collector’s office, not to the department.
•Ticking nothing. At least one of the three boxes has to be marked or there is nothing to replace.
•Leaving the current plate number blank. The county needs to know which plate is being replaced, not just which vehicle.
Rules that decide whether it is accepted
•The fee is $6.50 and the form breaks it down. Six dollars plus a fifty-cent automation fee. Printed on the face of the form, which is unusual and useful.
•County, not state. Everything about replacing plates in Texas happens at the county tax assessor-collector. The form tells you to contact them with any questions, and they are the right people to ask.
•Plates and stickers are separate problems. A stolen plate and a peeled sticker are different boxes, and you can tick both. A windshield sticker and a plate sticker are also separate boxes.
•A stolen plate is worth reporting too. The form does not ask, but a plate that was taken rather than lost is worth a police report before you replace it - the old plate stays associated with your record until it is replaced.
Every line here was read off VTR-60 (Rev. 11/2017) itself — the PDF is here — and off the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles pages.
This is plain-language help with a form, not legal advice, and where our wording and the agency's differ,
theirs governs.
